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Washington Closure awards $196 million to small businesses in FY2010

01.03.2011

RICHLAND, Wash.—Washington Closure Hanford awarded $196 million in subcontracts to small businesses in fiscal year 2010.

From October 2009 through September 2010, Washington Closure subcontracted $209 million in work to other businesses. Of that, $196 million, or 94 percent, went to small businesses. That is significantly more than the 65 percent the company is required to spend with small businesses.

The $209 million total includes more than $58 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars placed with 153 subcontractors. The total also includes $128 million spent locally in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties.

“This year, we more than doubled the amount of money and tripled the number of subcontractors we were able to work with using Recovery Act funds,” said Rodney M. Harrison, Washington Closure procurement and property manager. “The total number of local businesses we were able to work with was up by 40 percent, as well.”

Washington Closure manages the $2.4 billion River Corridor Closure Project at the U.S. Department of Energy’s 586-square-mile Hanford Site in south-central Washington state. It is the largest environmental cleanup and closure project in the country.

“Since this is a nuclear cleanup site, there’s an added responsibility to ensuring our subcontractors can safely manage the work,” said Harrison. “If a small business can meet the qualifications and safely perform work at Hanford in a quality manner, then we’re anxious to hear from them.

“Sometimes, in order for a small business to meet the qualifications and demonstrate they can safely perform the work on time and within budget, they have to team up with a larger, more experienced business. That’s a strategy we encourage,” he said. “It allows the smaller business to be mentored by a business experienced in large-scale environmental cleanup.”

The 65 percent small business subcontracting goal is part of Washington Closure’s contract with the DOE to manage the River Corridor Closure Project. It is one of the most aggressive subcontracting goals within the DOE system. The goal was placed into the contract to ensure the company makes every effort to locate qualified subcontractors and give them opportunities to bid on government-funded work.

Washington Closure is a limited liability company owned by URS, Bechtel and CH2M Hill. The company is responsible for cleaning up 396 waste sites, demolishing 486 contaminated buildings, placing two plutonium production reactors and one nuclear facility in interim safe storage, and operating Hanford’s onsite Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility.

Businesses interested in doing work with Washington Closure may visit the web site at www.washingtonclosure.com and click on the Procurement button. Listed on the site are upcoming procurements, as well as directions for companies that want to prequalify to receive future requests for proposals.